‘He’s Out of His Depth’: GOP Senator Who Cast Deciding Vote for Pete Hegseth Says He’d Take It Back If He Could

The Republican senator who cast the deciding vote to confirm Pete Hegseth as Secretary of Defense trashed him in a CNN interview Wednesday, saying that if he had it to do over again, he’d take it back.

Speaking with Jake Tapper on CNN’s The Lead, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) blasted the defense secretary’s job performance.

“With the passing of time, I think it’s clear he’s out of his depth as a manager of a large complex organization,” Tillis said.

“What was your reaction to the Signalgate situation?” Tapper asked.

“Well, that’s just one,” Tillis said. “I mean, this whole idea of having a pause in Ukraine defensive arms, that’s just amateurish. That’s from somebody who doesn’t understand large organization dynamics. So, you know, I don’t regret the decision I made back then — based on the facts as I knew them then. But today, I am beginning to wonder if maybe [the Senate] Armed Services [committee] was a little bit generous with respect to their assessment of his capabilities as a manager of the world’s largest, most complex, and arguably consequential organization.”

Reports in January — when the defense secretary was confirmed — indicated that Tillis was subjected to an intense pressure campaign from President Donald Trump and his allies to vote for Hegseth. Among other tactics, prominent MAGA allies threatened Tillis with a primary opponent if he voted down Hegseth’s nomination.

But such a threat no longer carries weight with Tillis, who announced he will not seek reelection in 2026 — amid his opposition to the Trump-backed “Big Beautiful” bill. Tillis voted against the legislation, which eventually passed both chambers of Congress, and said that he plans to call “balls and strikes” for the remainder of his term.

In Wednesday’s CNN interview, Tillis made clear that he thinks Hegseth is a swing and a miss.

“If you had to do it again today, you probably wouldn’t vote yes?” Tapper asked Tillis.

“I think based on the information I have today,” Tillis said. “If all I had was the information on the day of the vote, I’d certainly vote for him again. But now, I have the information of him being a manager, and I don’t think that his probationary period has been very positive.”

Watch above, via CNN.